Perfect Bride Read Free Page B

blast that came from within and spread to every part of her, a cold that made her shiver from the inside out.
    Memory flashed inside her, the memory of Mama’s last hours. She had whispered of the cold, and she had shivered and shaken...
    Oh, God. Was she dying then? No ! her mind cried. I don’t want to die, not like this. Not in the dark and the cold ...
    Biting deep into her lip, she choked back a sob— she knew there was no use in crying out.
    For there was no one to hear. No one to care. For this was St. Giles, home of beggars and thieves, the poor and the unwanted.
    Two
    amn his brother’s foolhardy nature! The Sterling family carriage careened around the corner onto St. Martin’s Lane, a grand affair of shining black and gleaming silver. To any onlookers (of which there were few, given the ungodly hour), the splendidly sumptuous vehicle was sorely out of place in the filthy streets of St. Giles. Inside the vehi cle, Sebastian Sterling held on tightly, both to the strap and to his temper—it was rare he ever truly lost his temper—but admittedly, the edges were a bit frayed.
    True, he’d spent a very pleasant evening at the Far thingales’ dinner party—a lively affair, to be sure, for it had lasted until well after midnight. Justin had been invited as well but had chosen not to attend, it seemed. Indeed, Stokes, the butler, had informed Se bastian as Sebastian left his town house that Justin planned to spend the night gaming.
    So it was that Sebastian had stopped at White’s af ter leaving the Farthingales. Though Sebastian and Justin lived beneath the same roof, it seemed they only encountered each other in passing these days. Since Julianna was traveling, there was no one home but the servants, who were certainly all abed by now; perhaps he and Justin might share a brandy to gether. Besides, it was only right to apprise his brother of his plans before Justin read about them in tomorrow’s gossips...
    But Justin was not at White’s. His friend Gideon, however, was. And it was Gideon, deep in his cups— God, was he ever anything but deep in his cups?— who disclosed he’d seen Justin but a short time earlier . . .
    At a gaming hell in St. Giles.
    And it was that which accounted for the carriage’s breakneck pace...
    Outside, Sebastian could hear Jimmy, his driver, urging the horses on. Damn Justin’s recklessness! he thought again. By God, but there were times he swore his brother cared about nothing, not any one or any thing . What the blazes was Justin thinking, to come to such a place? Ah, he reflected furiously, but that was Justin. His life consisted of but three pursuits— gambling, whoring, and drinking. As for Gideon... well, they were rakehells, both of them, and he wasn’t sure who was worse!
    Under other circumstances, Sebastian wouldn’t have dared stray into the heart of St. Giles, for it was surely the very scourge of the earth, rife with pick pockets, thieves ...and worse. It seemed a man could scarcely walk down any street in London these days without risk of being robbed. But in an area such as this, a man risked losing not only his watch, but his very life...
    His jaw clamped together hard. Little wonder, he decided blackly, that he preferred Thurston Hall to London.
    The carriage veered precariously. As Jimmy nego tiated the turn, Sebastian shifted to accommodate the movement. Yet in the next instant, the carriage swerved abruptly and lurched to a halt. Sebastian found himself flung across the seat so violently, he narrowly escaped cracking his head.
    He righted himself and flung open the door. “Jimmy! Is this it?”
    Jimmy hadn’t moved from his perch atop the cab. “No, my lord,” he said with a shake of his head.
    “Then drive on, man!” Sebastian couldn’t curb his impatience.
    Jimmy pointed a finger. “My lord, there be a body in the street!”
    No doubt whoever it was had had too much to drink. Sebastian very nearly advised his man to sim ply move it and drive